Throughout "That '70s Show," Red and Eric's dynamic is pretty easy to understand. Eric is an unmotivated, unathletic, and generally dull kid. By contrast, Red is a blue-collar, no-nonsense Korean War veteran. Eric's dull nature often and intensely incurs the wrath of his father, who's all about hard work and self-reliance. In fact, Eric and Red find themselves at odds over even the most trivial things so frequently that one has to wonder if Red actually cares about his son at all, or if he truly believes he's a monumental failure. The show makes it seem as though the latter is the case, but the actual truth may be less cut and dry — if this fan theory is to be believed.
As posited by Redditor u/gallagher222, Red's disappointment in Eric and his harsh attitude toward him could be entirely manufactured, done in the hope that it'll push Eric to reject societal standards of manhood more and more. Nothing quite like having a loud, angry father to make you never want to be loud and angry in your life, right?
"If Red raises Eric to be like himself, then there's a good chance that Eric will suffer the same pain that Red constantly has to battle with," u/gallagher222 wrote, breaking down how Red has been poisoned by traditional concepts of masculinity over the course of his life, and he's "exhausted with having to constantly be the tough man."
They continued, "Its a prison that Red wants to keep Eric from entering. ... Red knew that he could easily raise his son with his own firm and rigid manhood values. But deep down, Red is unhappy with these values. He knows he could never deviate from them, but his son could." This, according to the Reddit user, could explain why "Red essentially sabotaged every chance Eric ever had to turn into a tough guy."
In simplest terms, Red comes from an era where hiding your emotions and putting on a brave face were necessary, but he has come to realize how much that lifestyle hurt in the long run. Unable to escape it, Red doesn't want Eric to go down the same road, and the only way he knows to keep him away from it is through tough love.
